Why ground beef prices are creeping up

Some Islanders may have noticed the price of ground beef creeping up at the grocery store especially for lean groundbeef.

Ground beef prices were much lower a year ago saysRuss Mallard, president of the Atlantic Beef Products plant in Albany, andthere is a reason why.

About a year ago a lot of dairy farmers in the US and Canada were reducing the number of cows in their herds after a milk glut in the US. Those cows areused to make ground beef, but Mallard said that extra culling has stopped.

The influx of dairy cattlefor processing, Mallard said,meantmore supply than demand causing the prices to go down.

"Since that culling of the herd is finished now, we've seen fewer cows coming on the market and the price for leaner beef has actually gone up and stayed up," he said.

Mallard said people may not understand that a lot of ground beef industry is largely supplied through the dairy industry. When an older cow is unable to be used for milk it often ends up at a processing plant.

"When beef is lean or extra lean, that beef tends to come from the cull cow side," he said.

Mallard said prices for ground beef have lowered somewhat in the US and he hopes this will eventually happen in Canada too.

"We're hoping they [prices] do tend to back off a little bit to make it a little easier for people to buy the product at store level," he said.

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